When He Returns
by Bananabooklover7
Summary: A week after the cabin happened in Shadow Kiss, Dimitri left to become Tasha's guardian. But why did he leave? And what happened to Rose while he was gone?  What will happen when they meet up almost seven years later? DimitriXRose. 2nd Fanfic-Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**This is my second fanfic. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer-I do not own the Vampire Academy series or it's characters. =(**

**Please review!**

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There are three main types of questions you can get asked from an intelligent almost six-year-old.

The first type is the normal and somewhat whiny questions, the ones like "Mommy, can I have a treat?". They can get really annoying, but they are possible to avoid or control after a while.

The second type is the everyday inquisitive questions. For example, "Mommy, why is the sky blue?" They can get really annoying, especially if you don't know how to answer them. For instance, who really knows why ducks live in ponds? You know there must be some kind of answer related to ecosystems and what-not, but who really remembers elementary school science?

The third kind is the ones that for obvious reasons, you can't exactly explain to a child of that age, such as "Mommy, how are babies made?". I think this category is pretty self-explanatory.

Oh, and then there's the question my daughter, Alecksa Lissa Belikov Hathaway, decided to ask me on the way to the court this morning.

Me and Adrian had driven to an airport about five hours away where we'd recently landed after picking her up from the academy for the winter holidays. Normally we would have simply flown straight into the court, but there had been severe blizzards surrounding the area all week, so we'd had to fly in to a nearby town and drive in. If you could call five hours away nearby. We were lucky that they still even had the roads open though with the amount of snow there was flying around outside.

It was Alecksa's first year at the academy and the distance had been really hard. Still, I'd wanted her to learn how to become a guardian at the same place I had, so that's where she went. Meanwhile, I'd had to remain at court guarding Lissa. So I compensated by visiting often. Sometime Lissa even came with me along with Christian, whom she was now married to, and their 2 year old baby boy, Andre.

Anyways, me, Adrian and Alecksa were nearing the last hour of our drive when she asked the question. It was a good thing that Adrian had offered to drive, becuase if I'd been driving when I'd heard her ask, I definitely would have crashed the car.

"Mommy, how come I don't have a mommy _and_ a daddy to pick me up for the winter holidays like the other kids do?" she asked. I could just imagine how innocent her chocolate-brown eyes would look as she asked the question. Not that all kids had two parents picking them up, but she was smart enough to know that the three of us, her, mommy and Uncle Adrian weren't exactly the traditional family.

I gaped at the open windshield in front of me, not knowing how to answer. Damn her for being so freaking inquisitive. She'd hadn't gotten her patience from her father though, she'd gotten it from me, so I knew I'd have to answer her fairly quickly or she'd become relentless.

At this point, it's probably worth mentioning that her father was Dimitri. But shortly after our little one night stand in the cabins, he'd left me to be Tasha's guardian. I didn't know what had changed his mind like that, so quickly, to cause him to go from loving me and having sex with me to not even caring I existed, but whatever it had been had broken my heart.

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_Flashback_

_As I entered the gym for my morning practice with Dimitri, I could sense immediately that something was off. It had been a week since the amazing night we'd shared in the cabin, and the attraction had been nearly undeniable during our training sessions ever since. I could feel today would be different though. When I looked up at Dimitri, I saw that he had his guardian mask on, but there was something-was that regret?-in his eyes._

_I approached him calmly, nevertheless, with my typical Rose Hathaway attitude. "Hey Comrade."_

_"Rosemarie." He acknowledged my presence by saying my full name stiffly with a nod._

_"Woah, Rosemarie? Am I in trouble or something?" He never called me that. It was always Rose, or if I was lucky enough, he'd use me name in russian, Roza._

_"No. But this-us, can't go on any longer. I can pretend I'm in love with you any longer."_

_When I finally responded, my voice shook. "P-pr-pretend?" I asked him._

_He continued to look at me dead on, showing no emotion. "I'm leaving the academy to become Tasha's guardian. And if anyone asks, then the cabin never happened. Can I trust you?"_

_I didn't respond, but he just left the room and walked out. The only man I'd ever loved._

_End of Flashback_

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After he'd left me, I'd been completely broken. Lissa and Adrian had both feared that I'd never be my true self again, and I hadn't been too sure either.

They both helped me through it though, Christian too actually. I'd told Lissa and Christian both everything about Dimitri, although Adrian had already known. After a while I was finally starting to feel a little bit like the real Rose Hathaway. Then, about a month and a half after Dimitri's departure, the morning sickness started. At first I'd waved it off as nothing, but before long it was accompanied by dizzy spells, fierce headaches and times when I ate enough to feed thousands.

It wasn't until I heard Lissa complaining about the quality of the tampons the academy had recently provided her with, when it hit me. My period was three weeks late. But I couldn't possibly have been pregnant, seeing as Dimitri was the only person I'd ever slept with and he was a dhampire, like me.

When the test turned out positive though, I'd had to start accepting the fact. I wasn't sure how it had happened, but Lissa suspected it was because I was shadow-kissed. I hadn't known if I wanted this at all; I'd had very mixed feelings about it. I didn't think I'd be able to handle looking at a mini-Dimitri every day, to break my heaart even further. I knew though, that I couldn't get an abortion. That would just be like killing the last part of Dimitri that I had left.

I managed to graduate, despite not being able to take the trials, and I was assigned to be Lissa's guardian, only I wouldn't officially have to start guarding her until the baby was a year old.

When Alecksa was born, I couldn't believe it. Adrian had stayed with me all throughout the labour, and I was exhausted as hell, I didn't even want to move.

But Adrian just whispered, "look at her", and I did. figuring I might as well see the stupid thing that had caused me all that pain an suffering. When I set eyes on her though, it was like I had fallen in love all over again.

She was just crying there, in Adrian's arms, looking so helpless, squirming around as though looking for food, she must have been hungry the poor little thing. Even though she was still discoloured from the labour, she was perfect. Ten tiny fingures and toes along with the most adorable tiny facial features.

When she was first born, even though babies really didn't ressemble anyone but themselves, I could have sworn she looked exactly like Dimitri, although that could have merely been wishful thinking. As she grew though, it was clear that she was a pefect little mix of me and Dimitri. She had his facial structure and his beautiful eyes, but she had my ears, nose, mouth and hair. She also had my cocky attitude, which sometimes I didn't appreciate nearly as much as the rest of her.

Adrian had stopped hitting on me and moved in with me. We slept in different beds though and he knew we weren't ever going to be together. It didn't matter anymore though, we'd all grown up a little because of her. I now had a brotherly relationship with both Adrian and Christian and they were both the fatherly figures in her life. Or at least it seemed brotherly with Adrian, but sometimes I couldn't help but wonder.

And speaking of now...I felt Adrian's hand rest on mine reassuringly. I glanced at him quickly, a worried, unsure look on my face. Then I composed myself enough to reply.

"But you have your uncle Adrian."

"Yeah, but it's not the same."

"Well..." I started. I couldn't very well tell her that her father had abandoned me, and in turn abandoned her, though he couldn't have possibly known about her when he'd left. So what was I supposed to tell her. "Your father..." I hesitated before continuing. "He was a great guardian."

"Was?" she asked me seriously.

"Is." I replied firmly. No matter how much he had hurt me, the image of Dimitri dead was simply too horrid to imagine.

"Then can I meet him? Where does he live? Can we go see him now?"

I tensed visibly. Adrian's hand moved up my arm, to my shoulder, trying to calm me as he kept his eyes firmly on the road.

"I don't know sweetie. Maybe some day when you're older." I suddenly felt guilty. I'd never even told her anything about her father before. And she'd never asked, before today at least. I felt sure she was going to demand to know more, like I probably would have at her age, but thankfully all she said was, "Okay."

I spent the next little while thinking solely about Dimitri. It might have been nearly seven years since he'd left me, but I still missed him like crazy. Part of me hated him too though, for leaving me and for not being here for Alecksa. I knew that was partially my fault that I hadn't told him about her. I simply don't think I could have faced him though. As much as I hated admitting weakness, Dimitri was one point where I was totally and undeniably weak.

My thoughts were interrupted by Alecksa impatiently asking, "are we there yet Uncle Adrian?" Yup, she was totally my daughter.

I decided to play along. "Yeah Uncle Adrian. When are we going to be there?" I knew he hated it when I called him that, he claimed it made him feel old. Although he tolerated Alecksa saying it. I was constantly reminding him that technically, aunts and uncles could be younger then their neices or nephews, but he didn't buy it.

"Actually," he bagan as we turned on to our street. "We are."

We lived in one of the guest houses on the court's property, right beside Lissa, Christian and Andre. As soon as Adrian pulled into the driveway, Alecksa leaped out of the car and ran into the house. We always left the door unlocked because there was no danger at the court of anyone breaking in. And besides, a locked door wouldn't really deter a strigoi.

Me and Adrian followed slowly, laughing at her excitement. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and twirled me around before dipping me close to the ground as if we had been dancing. I looked up into his eyes, still laughing my head off. Like I said, sometimes with Adrian...I wondered if it really was a sibling-like relationship between us. This was definitely one of those times.

He leaned his lips in towards me. All I could think was, _Oh God! He's going to kiss me! _I hadn't kissed anybody since Dimitri, except for Christian once while we were playing truth or dare. And that hadn't really counted. Besides kissing Christian really was like kissing a brother, although somehow I didn't think kissing Adrian would be.

Although at first I'd found myself grateful when Adrian had let up on the flirting, now I almost missed it. The scariest part of that moment was realizing that I actually did want to kiss Adrian. I wanted it badly. Now we were both in a postition where we wanted the same thing, so what would happen?

He leaned in further and I leaned forward to meet him. Our lips were only inches away when we were interupted by a screech coming from the kitchen. I immediately stood up and ran inside, stoping at the door when I saw Alecksa hesitating there, behind the corner that led into the living room.

"Mommy, there's some guy in there?"

"Who?" I asked, hoping it was just one of the maintenence guys. I knew better than that though, they weren't supposed to come in unless you asked for them to come.

"I don't know." Alecksa was shaking. I pulled her into a hug. She must have been terrified, it really took a lot to faze her like this. She held on to me for dear life.

"Well what was he doing?" I asked. I knew it couldn't have been a strigoi because she was already trained to identify them. Besides, there was no way the wards had broken.

"Looing at our pictures. And in the box you told me never to touch." Oh, that's why she was acting like that. The box in question was where I kept everything that reminded me of Dimitri. There was the first stake he'd ever given me, the beautiful necklace he'd given me three days before he'd left me and a few other random objects, accompanied by a picture of him. I'd forbidden Alecksa to look inside the box, of course. Normally she wouldn't even listen to what I said, but I'd practically yelled at her once when she was only looking at it. And I didn't yell often, usually I just got really annoyed when she did something wrong.

I smiled encouragiingly down at her and said, "well then we'll just have to set him straight then won't we?"

I held my hand out to her and she took it. She still stayed really close to me though. I was concious of Adrian was on my other side as I walked around the corner to see...him.

The one and only Dimitri Belikov, the father of my child, was standing in my living room less than three feet away from me.

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**Well, I hope you like it so far! I'll try to post again soon.**

**Just so you know, this is going to be a RoseXDimitri story, but I just had to put that little scene between her and Adrian. **

**The next chapter will be in Dimitri's point of view. It will basically be the events in his life leading up to this moment.**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW! Praise, comments and constructive criticism are all GREATLY APPRECIATED!**

**Oh and if you get the chance, check out my other story, "Shadow's Kiss Never Ends" if you haven't already.**

**~Kayla**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the 2nd Chapter-Enjoy!**

**And thanks for all the reviews I got for the last one. Also thanks to everyone who read it, added it to their favorite stury list and/or subscribed for alerts. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Academy or it's characters. Richelle Mead does.**

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**DPOV**

I looked out the window of the small plane that was slowly descending at last. I was anxiously awaiting our arrival at court. Unfortunately, due to weather conditions, we still had a five hour drive ahead of us, but that didn't matter. All I wanted was to see Rose one more time.

In past times when Tasha and I had gone to visit Lissa and Christian, we'd always given them lots of notice, so I supposed that Rose purposely planned to be away from the court during those times. To my extreme annoyance, she always seemed to bring Lord Ivashkov with her whenever she left. I wondered if they were a couple now. It would certainly serve me right for having left Rose the way I had, without even the proper closure.

_Flashback_

_Even though I knew what I would have to do in a few short minutes I couldn't wrap my head around it. It went against everything I wanted. Selfishly, I wanted to keep Roza with me forever and never let her go, but that wasn't what was best for her. I loved her way too much to keep her from fulfilling what she'd always wanted. Then she entered the gym. As usual, the sight of her practically took my breath away, but I couldn't let it show so I kept my guardian mask plastered firmly across my face._

_"Hey Comrade." she said confidently. I loved how she kept her cool even though she must have been able to tell there was something off with me._

_"Rosemarie." I nodded at her. It was painful to keep my emotions in check like this._

_"Woah, Rosemarie? Am I in trouble or something?" She seemed wary and defensive. I knew my next words would break her though. It practically killed me saying them._

_"No. But this-us, can't go on any longer. I can pretend I'm in love with you any longer."_

_I don't know what she had been expecting, but whatever it was, it wasn't this. When she finally responded, her voice shook. "P-pr-pretend?" I asked him._

_I continued to look at her dead on, showing none of the emotions I felt overwhelming me right now. "I'm leaving the academy to become Tasha's guardian. And if anyone asks, then the cabin never happened. Can I trust you?"_

_I left the room before she could reply. I could feel my self-control smothering. I wanted to just run back to her and tell her the truth, but I couldn't. So I just left her standing there. _

_I left the only woman I'd ever been in love with standing there alone, hating me._

_End of Flashback_

Contrary to what I'd told Rose though, I was still very much in love with her. That was something that would never stop, no matter how long I lived. The reason I'd left was that Headmistress Kirova had become suspicious of our relationship. Alberta had warned me about it and told me the only way to save Rose's career and allow her to graduate would be for me to leave her now, before things got out of hand.

I knew that if I told Rose the truth, that she'd just become so angry she'd pursue me anyways and would be expelled, so I'd had to lie to her even though it had practically killed me to do it. I'd wanted to explain to her after, but I'd never managed to get a chance. Not that I blamed her though. I'd seen the hurt in her eyes as I'd told her it had all been pretend and it still gave me nightmares to have her look at me like that,

This time, since our visit to the court wasn't planned ahead of time, I hoped that my Roza would be there. It had been Tasha's idea actually. She'd told me that after all these years I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself and try to win her back.

I knew absolutely nothing about what Rose's life had become since I'd left. All I knew was that she was Lissa's guardian. Whenever I tried to ask the Dragomir princess about her all I'd get was a glare. I'd even tried asking Christian one time out of desperation, but he'd threatened to throw me out of the house if I didn't shut up. Apparently Rose's life was now classified information to me.

I heard the distinct thump as the airplane touched the ground and I nearly leaped out of my seat. Tasha put a hand on my arm to hold me down. She really was a good friend and all, having put up with me for all these years as her guardian.

After what seemed like an eternity, the seat belt sign turned off. I bolted out of my seat, with Tasha at my heels. Even though technically I was supposed to be her guardian, I knew that she knew how to handle herself and I didn't really have to guard her in the traditional way.

When we got to the baggage claim area our luggage still hadn't arrived. I wanted to leave it there but Tasha forced me to wait. I knew that if the circumstances were different she would have teased me for being so eager, but she knew how much it meant to me that there was a chance I might be able to see Rose.

I had just grabbed Tasha's suitcase and handed it to her when I saw her. I just saw the back of her head, but I'd know that hair anywhere. Roza. She was in the doorway, leaving the airport with Ivashkov pulling a big suitcase beside her. I was surprised to also see a little girl holding Rose's hand. I wondered who that was. I didn't think Rose had any siblings or anything, but then she had never really known her father so maybe she did.

"Rose, Roza!" I shouted, causing all the people around me to stare. But she didn't hear me and she'd already gone through the doors.

"Come on." Tasha said comfortingly. "At least we know she's here this time and we'll see her soon."

We got to the car and Tasha took one look at me before declaring that she was driving. I was obviously too distracted.

When we made it to Lissa and Christian's house, Tasha knocked on the door. Christian opened the door, but when he saw us standing there he was shocked.

"Aunt Tasha," he said warily. "What a surprise!" As he hugged her and invited us in, I couldn't help but notice the frequent glares he shot me. Then Lissa came in with Andre in her arms.

"Christian, who was at th-" She turned and saw Tasha and I standing there. She handed Andre to Christian and gave Tasha a friendly hug. She pretended to ignore me.

Lissa motioned Christian into the kitchen urgently. He handed off Andre to Tasha with half a smile on his face and left the room without so much as a glance in my direction.

I sighed. Obviously they weren't at all happy to see me here. If Tasha had come alone they most likely wouldn't have cared, but obviously they were thoroughly loyal to Rose, who understandably didn't want to see me after the way I'd hurt her.

"I'm going to see if Rose is home yet. If they come back," I said, gesturing towards the kitchen, "then tell them I went for a walk please." \

Tasha just nodded, and I set off for the house next door. I knocked a few times, but nobody answered. Oh well, maybe they weren't home yet. I tried the doorknob and surprisingly, the door had been left unlocked. Or perhaps it really wasn't so surprising. It was still Rose after all.

I entered into a small hallway, similar to the one at Lissa and Christian's, then turned right into what appeared to be the living room. There was a huge flat-screen television mounted above the fireplace, complete with surround sound. A few cozy chairs and a sofa littered the room around a spectacular wooden coffee table, all facing the fireplace and TV.

Then I saw a shelf off to the side, littered with pictures. There were pictures of Rose, Adrian, Lissa and Christian, but most of all was that little girl I'd seen with her today. She looked so much like Rose it was obvious they were related. Then I got the gist of the pictures.

They were mostly family portraits set through the years. There were some of Lissa and he family from next door, but also some of what seemed to be Rose's new family. They were all of Rose, Adrian and the girl, who's name I still didn't know. Then it hit me. She was Rose's daughter.

Adrian must have been the father, judging by all these photographs. However I didn't see a trace of Ivashkov in her features. There was plenty of Rose though., so much so that it hurt. It hurt almost as much as it did to see Rose in all these pictures, smiling away happily, as though my leaving hadn't even fazed her. Who knew though, maybe it hadn't. She certainly looked happy enough.

I studied the one picture of the girl again which seemed to be the most recent. She had Rose's hair, mouth and nose, but the rest of her features seemed to come from somewhere else entirely. They seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put a name to them. The girl looked absolutely gorgeous though. Perfectly serene chocolate brown eyes, but with a tint to them, like Rose's, which reminded you that she wasn't totally innocent after all.

It was unbelievable how much I wanted to replace Ivashkov in every single one if those pictures. I knew that I couldn't of given this to Rose though. I couldn't have given her children, even if I'd been able to stay.

Suddenly I set my eyes upon a box, that also rested on the ledge. I was set a little ways away from all the photos. I moved over to it and picked it up carefully. I had just cracked open the lid when I heard footsteps echoing behind me.

I tensed, but then I heard a screech and the footsteps retreated quickly. I turned around, but no one was standing there. I was about to dismiss it as my imagination when I heard whispers coming from around the corner. I carefully closed the lid on the box and placed it back on the ledge.

I had just enough time to compose myself before I heard footsteps again, more then one set this time. They stopped suddenly, and I turned to see her. My Roza. She was holding her daughters hand and Ivashkov was standing on her other side.

After all these years, I wanted to simply run up to her and pull her into a hug, followed by a passionate kiss. I knew however, that she would never accept that, so I had to be content just to see her. My personal angel. My Roza.

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**Hope you liked it, I'll try and post again soon!**

**Please REVIEW!**

**Thanks!**

**~Kayla**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter three! The BIG reunion! Lol. I hope you like it! Sorry it took so long, I've been busy with school, skating and hockey starting over again!**

**Also thank you to everyone who reviewed! Over 40 reviews for just two chapters-it's amazing!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Academy series or it's characters. =(**

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**RPOV**

"Dimitri..."

I couldn't believe that after all these years Dimitri had the nerve to show up again. I was also kind of mad that Lissa hadn't told me he and Tasha were coming, seeing as she always had in the past. Even if she'd always insisted that I should see him, if only to get closure, she'd never betrayed me like this before. She'd even tried many times to convince me that Dimitri wasn't actually together with Tasha, but I wasn't buying it.

Also, the fact that Dimitri had just come into my home without being invited was just unacceptable. I could only imagine what his reaction would be if I'd invaded his personal space and it wasn't pretty.

There was also a part of me that threatened to crumble in his presence. His eyes glinted in the light coming from the lamp on the far side of the room, making me want to throw myself into his arms and forget everything that had happened since he'd left me. I'd tried so many time to imagine how it would have been if he'd stayed that I could conjure the perfect picture in my mind. This shattered all of it.

He looked exactly the same as he had the day he'd left and it broke my heart. I looked for some trace that he'd really changed or moved on, but found none. He still wore those old cowboy boots with slightly baggy jeans and his shoulder-length hair pulled up into pony tail. He didn't even look ashamed or apologetic that he'd been found in my house looking at all my personal pictures. I hurt in an unbelievable way to know that he was the exactly the same person I'd fallen in love with but he no longer had any feelings at all.

"Roza..." he said softly.

I felt a pleasurable shudder crawl up my spine. He was looking at me with those gorgeous brown eyes of his. They seemed to be trying to tell her something. They seemed almost...longing? But that couldn't be possible, after all he'd rejected me. A curious voice interrupted my brooding.

"Who's Roza?" asked Alecksa. Dimitri looked at her with eyes full of pain, then at Adrian still standing dutifully on my other side.

"Hard to say," I said, the iciness of my voice shocking even me. "It was once somebody he wrongly claimed to love I suppose. Isn't that right Guardian?"

He winced visibly. I did too on the inside, but I wasn't done yet.

"It's okay Alecksa, he won't be here for long, he'll just go. Because that's what he does, he leaves." I said accusingly.

I'd never forgiven him for leaving in the first place. But now for him to return, when things were just settling in with Adrian was absolutely unacceptable. He was going to ruin my near-perfect life that I'd built for myself.

_He could be the last touch needed to make it absolutely perfect though, _said the really annoying voice in the back of my head which I was trying, but not altogether succeeding to ignore.

"Roza, I-"

"That's Guardian Hathaway to you." I continued to glare at him with icy-coldness that made even me want to shiver.

I was barely even conscious of Adrian whispering softly, "Come on Lexie, let's bring up all your stuff to your room and give mommy some time to talk." Lexie was Alecksa's nickname. She couldn't stand it when people called her Alex. Actually she's once gotten into trouble for beating up a moroi guy who'd called her that. Although I'd shared some stern words with her during my next visit, I'd privately admired her courage. Us Hathaway's didn't mess around.

Adrian squeezed my hand as he passed. I squeezed back and pulled him towards me. "Rose," Adrian warned me, shooting a panicked look at where Dimitri stood, looking at me longingly. I turned my eyes to meet Adrian's and he understood. I had wanted to be with him, I just wanted to live my normal life, but Dimitri being back threatened to change everything, to make it topple over and burn to ashes.

I leaned in closer to Adrian and he planted a kiss on my forehead. My eyes flickered up in surprise. He didn't usually do this sort of thing when people were watching, but then maybe this was what I needed. I wanted to be with him, I really did. I had taken me too many years to get over Dimitri and he didn't even want me anymore, if he'd ever wanted me, he wanted Tasha. The only difference between now and seven years ago was that now I was alright with that. It would probably be really awkward while they were here, but they'd leave and life would go on.

As Adrian gave my hand a final squeeze and left to follow Alecksa up the stairs, I turned to face Dimitri once more. The hurt in his face was apparent and without wanting to give it away, my heart automatically went out to him. I couldn't believe that about two seconds ago I'd been convinced I could have the perfect life with Adrian. I would never get over Dimitri, no longer how long I lived. I stared at him in shock, just trying to form words and recompose myself. I couldn't let him see there was anything underneath my guardian's mask I'd become so good at using in the past few years.

When he spoke to me again, his voice was calm, yet inflicted with pain I could almost taste. "So Alecksa...she's yours?"

I just nodded. For once, Dimitri's face hid no emotions, which almost made me guilty for keeping mine in check. I had to stay strong for Alecksa and Adrian though, not just myself.

"She's beautiful." he whispered. "She looks just like her mother."

I blinked back the tears that threatened to come. He hadn't exactly been complementing me specifically, but it was close enough to bring back all the good memories I'd thought we'd shared together. Apparently it had only been me though, he'd felt nothing.

"Thank you," I said simply. Suddenly I wanted him to get out of my house. Each second my willpower shrunk, but I couldn't give in.

He took a few tentative steps towards me. I saw his eyes sweeping across my body, making me feel self-conscious. It was a sentiment that only Dimitri could bring out of me. Then I realized where he was focusing and what he was most likely looking at. I held my hands up for him to see.

"No ring. I didn't marry him, no." No need to specify who 'him' was. I couldn't understand why Dimitri even cared though, or why he suddenly looked slightly hopeful. Maybe he thought he could screw me and leave again. Well he couldn't have been more wrong. "We are together though." Why the hell not? His expression turned to one of disappointment and something more. If I didn't know better I would have said it was jealousy, but obviously that was out of the question.

"Who's her father?" he asked. I could tell he was genuinely curious, but that struck a nerve. He must have though it was Adrian, but he didn't know for sure. I mean she obviously didn't look like him. I sometimes wondered if I was the only one who recognized how much she looked like Dimitri.

"You have no right to know that," I snapped at him, my voice raising dangerously close to a yell. "And I expect you to stay away from here."

Alright, what was up with Dimitri before. Now he looked absolutely devastated, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't this good of an actor. I sighed, thinking it would be best to pass the time he had to be here for in a friendly manner, even if it was combined with extreme awkwardness.

"So how long are you staying?" Better to get the tough questions out of the way early to avoid the curiosity and fear clawing away at me until I rotted.

"I don't know yet. However long Lissa and Christian will have us I suppose." Well technically Lissa and Christian didn't want to even house them now, but Lissa was far too polite to say anything. Maybe I could change that though. Alright next question.

"How's Tasha?" That one I actually meant, sort of. I mean I genuinely liked Tasha, she was a really nice person. It wasn't her fault Dimitri had acted the way he had towards me. I was jealous of her obviously, but other than that, she wasn't too easy to hate.

"Good I guess." He always gave the shortest possible answers. No point asking him to elaborate, he'd always been like that. Short and to the point. Really, that was the best way to break hearts, right?

"And how are you?" I asked in a small voice. It pained me to ask that. I didn't really want to know the answer about how fabulously he'd been getting along with Tasha, but it was better to get the hard stuff over with.

He didn't answer though, of course. I wondered if he ever gave straight, legitimate answers to anyone. Highly unlikely. Instead he tried to change the subject.

Taking a deep breath he said,"Rose, we need to talk." He looked at me intently.

"Well that's what we're doing right now isn't it guardian Belikov?" He stiffened at the use of his formal name. But whatever, I meant business.

He took another step towards me. Too close, I thought. My radars were suddenly on hyper alert, as if his closeness was hazardous to me. It probably was in another sense of the word though. I'd just throw myself at him if he came any closer and then we'd be back to square one. Maybe one and a half, if we were lucky. Suddenly he raised one hand to play with my hair the way he'd always used to. I ducked out of the way before he could.

"Stay away from me." I hissed. The move he'd made for my hair straight away was just too familiar.

"Ro-"

"I mean it Dimitri!" I was all but shouting now. "You lost your chance when you left me all those years ago. I'm not going to let you use me and then dispose of me again."

Suddenly the door clicked open and I saw Christian walk in. He smiled uneasily when he saw me.

"O hey Rose," he greeted me uncomfortably. "Listen there's something I have to tel-" he broke off as he saw Dimitri standing there. Then he registered the way I was standing against the wall, as far away from Dimitri as possible and the looks on our faces. "Get out Belikov," he growled.

Not like I needed fire boy to stick up for me or fight my battles, but it was nice not to be alone in the room with Dimitri anymore.

Dimitri took one last pained look at me before walking past me into the hallway and out the door.

"You alright Rose?" asked Christian. "I'm so sorry, we had no idea th-"

"It's okay, I'm fine." I smiled at him reassuringly. It was a totally phony expression, but he couldn't tell.

He looked at me for a moment then nodded. "Lissa says you don't have to come for dinner tomorrow if you don't want to."

"We'll come." I responded curtly. We always ate dinner all together on Saturday nights, I wasn't going to break the tradition just because of some unwanted guests. Besides, Alecksa would really want to go.

I smiled tightly and Christian nodded at me once more before turning and leaving the house. As soon as the door shut I sank the the floor and allowed all the emotions that had been threatening to overflow come out.

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**Well that's all for now! Reminder-this IS DimitriXRose, even though there will be some side-tracking with Adrian near the beginning, especially in the next two to three chapters.**

**Thanks for reading and please review! I'll try to post again soon!**

**~Kayla**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4! Sorry it took me so long, I've been super busy!**

**Anyways, this chapter is mostly RoseXAdrian. And Lexie's in there too!**

**This is dedicated to all my AMAZING REVIEWERS! Over 51 reviews for 3 chapter! **

**Let's try and get it up to 75 before I post the next one-that would be absolutely amazing!**

**DISCLAIMER: I unfortunately do NOT own the Vampire Academy series or any of it's characters. Alecksa is mine though =)**

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**APOV**

As I reluctantly left Rose and followed Alecksa up to her room, I couldn't help but think about how much I hated Belikov. He had left Rose alone and broken, yet now he had the nerve to come back and decide he wanted to talk to her? Not to mention the fact that Rose had almost kissed me barely five minutes before.

I couldn't be sure, of course, that she would have followed through, but I think she would have. It had taken her nearly seven years to get to where she was now, still not completely over him, but in the position where she was really prepared to give me a chance for the first time. Now that was over. She had seen him again, and there was no way I would get what I truly wanted.

Did I want it anymore though, I pondered as I climbed the last of the stairs and hauled Alecksa's heavy bag into the hallway. At first, after Belikov had left, I'd felt somewhat triumphant that I'd be able to have Rose all to myself. But then I'd had to live through all of her pain, and seeing that, I almost wished he would just come back to make her happy again.

That was before Alecksa had been born though. For her, Rose made the effort again. She went the extra mile, even more so than she had before. Soon enough, she was back to normal, well, close enough to normal anyways. She smiled frequently again, and laughed.

We'd grown really close, yet somewhere along the line I stopped flirting with her and acting like a desperate guy begging for her attention. I'd been there for her, which was more than Belikov had been, although I doubted she saw it that way. Our relationship in public became mostly sibling-like, which was what everyone seemed to expect from us now. But was it true, or was there still more?

There had always been those moments when we were alone, watching tv or just talking on the couch, where we'd have that real connection. She would lean against me and my arms would encircle her as I whispered softly into her hair. I knew she felt the electricity between us too, because her expression would change to one that for me was unreadable, but I'd come to assume was good.

"Uncle Adrian? Who is that Guardian Belikov guy downstairs?" came Alecksa's impatient voice from beside me. I'd just hauled her suitcase in through her bedroom door, and she was bouncing up and down beside me.

Her room was probably the coolest little kid's room in the world. It was painted black, with multicoloured stripes, polka-dots and squigles scattered randomly across the four walls. In the far right corner, she had her bed, which was pink, with pink drapes surrounding it, despite Rose's protests. She'd said that pink was way too girly a colour for a future guardian, but Alecksa had whined for days, so eventually Rose had given in, probably because she'd never had the chance to have anything like that when she was little.

I almost laughed aloud at the memory of how serious Rose's voice had been when she'd tried to explain to the four-year-old Alecksa how it was improper to have drapes around her bed, and how in an emergency, pink would be an utterly confusing colour to wake up to in the morning. Sometimes I wondered where she got her ideas from. Seriously, she could post the online and make millions for them.

In the far right corner was a desk with a computer on it and a flat screen tv with all sorts of videogames. There was also a bookcase crammed in there, another thing Rose had protested. She couldn't understand Alecksa's obsession with books, and how she dragged us into the book store every single time we went to the mall. I didn't really understand either, but it must have come from Belikov. Alecksa pretty much got whatever she wanted anyways.

I stood there, trying to figure out how to answer. "Well-uh..."

Alecksa cut me off with a slur of questions. "Have they met before? Were they friends? Why was mommy being so mean to him? Do they hate each other? Why haven'y we ever seen him before? Why does he look familiar?" Oh, and finally, after taking a deep breath she gave the grand finale. "Did he know my dad?"

Why on earth was she so obsessed with her father today? Nevermind the fact that in he was her father. Rose would skin me alive if I told that to Alecksa. I scratched my head, trying to figure out how to answer.

"Well he was your mother's mentor a long time ago when she was still in school. He taught her how to fight so well."

"Really?" Alecksa exclaimed. "Do you think he can teach me how to fight?"

"NO!" I practically shouted at her. Then, seeing her hurt expression and feeling bad, I said, "we'll see, okay baby dhampire?"

She just glowered at me. "I'm not a baby anymore Uncle Adrian, and that was the wrong answer."

Yikes! Her gaze terrified me. Was she really only six? Oh Lord, how was I going to deal with this?

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**RPOV**

I was still sitting there on the floor, staring and the blank wall across from me about five minutes later when Adrian found me. My mind was bouncing erratically with all the thoughts that had consumed me. On one hand, Dimitri was back. Ultimately that was what I had wanted for so long, but was it still? Which brings me to the other hand. Adrian.

"You alright?" he asked me softly. I had absolutely no faith in my voice at this point, so I simply nodded. He didn't seem to buy it though.

He pulled my head gently into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. The funny thing was though, I was dealing. In the past I had replayed in my head all the possible reactions I could have if Dimitri ever graced me with his presence again, but I'd surprised myself with relative calmness. I hadn't yelled as much as I'd thought I would have, I hadn't cried and-thankfully-I hadn't thrown myself at him. Maybe, I simply didn't want him the way I had in the past.

But no, that was impossible. He wasn't the sort of person I would ever let go of, even if he had rejected me all those years ago. I did want to move forward with Adrian though, if only I could make him see that.

Adrian ran his fingers soothingly through my hair and I turned to look up at him. "Where were we before Alecksa screamed?" I asked him softly. I puckered my lips slightly and leaned up towards him-only to have him push me away gently. I tried to hide the hurt I felt, but that would be impossible. Did every guy I fell for have to reject me?

"Rose..." he began, reading my crushed expression. "I want you, I always have. But are you sure this is what you want? I mean now, with Dimitri back..."

So he thought my actions were only motivated by Dimitri? So untrue. Well maybe partially true. "I wanted you before I knew he was back, so why should that have changed?"

"I don't know Rose. I just want this, us, to be for the right reasons." He hesitated then, and I took the opportunity to lean up and lightly brush my lips against his. I pulled away slightly, taking the time to evaluate his expression, before he hungrily pulled me back into him. The kiss was filled with lust and passion, I definitely was enjoying it. Though it was hard to say if it beat kissing Dimitri, seeing as it had been so long, but would I want to do it again? Did I want to keep doing it? Hell yeah. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance, because the second we pulled away from each other we were brought back to reality by Alecksa's voice.

"Mommy, why are you kissing uncle Adrian like that?" She looked seriously confused, bless her little soul.

My answer turned out to be something really intelligent like "hunh, whaaaaa?" Adrian wasn't much help either, he didn't say anything. I carefully unfolded myself from Adrian's lap to sit beside him. I stared into my daughter's eyes, trying to read her emotions, but she was so good at hiding them. Just like Dimitri had been.

"Does this mean Uncle Adrian is my daddy now?" she asked quizzically, seeing that I wasn't going to answer her last question.

"No," said Adrian softly. "I'll never be your daddy, just your uncle." He sounded truly disappointed, which made sense. I knew how much he loved her. And how much he loved me for that matter.

"Do you wish he was?" I asked her. I wanted an answer, but Alecksa seemed not to of heard me. Damn her and her short attention span. I loved her to death though.

Adrian managed to compose himself enough to return to ordinary business. "I thought you were supposed to be watching tv in your room," he said to Alecksa.

"Yeah," she said, sounding very grown up, which just made me want to pull her into my arms and never let her go. "But the show finished like, a whole five minutes ago!"

We both laughed at her tone. I was glad the subject had changed though. Thankfully Alecksa hadn't quite gotten to the stage where she wanted to know where babies came from.

"Do you want some dinner Lexie? I cooked some home-made maccaroni earlier which I can heat up in the microwave." She eyed me skeptically. Yes, she knew me very well indeed. "Okay fine," I gave in, "Uncle Christian made it. I just stole some from Auntie Lissa's fridge."

Alecksa smiled and screeched in some kind of triumph. "Why don't you help Uncle Adrian set the table for us?" This suggestion was met by a slur of protests, but in the end, the promise of dessert afterwards sent them both eagerly running to complete their task.

I separated the macaroni into bowls and put them one by one into the microwave, then set them on the table where Adrian and Alecksa were already waiting. Alecksa started wolfing hers down as soon as she got it.

"Woah, slow down Lexie, or you're going to choke!" I scolded her.

"No I won't mommy! Besides, I need to hurry up and finish so I can go see Auntie Lissa, Uncle Christian and Andre!"

Me and Adrian exchanged uncomfortable glances. No way was I letting my daughter go over there tonight, it was too soon to deal with Dimitri again.

"Actually sweetheart, we're just going to hang around here tonight. We'll see them tomorrow for dinner," I said.

That answer did not impress her at all. "I want to go now though!" she screamed at me.

Damn. This was certainly going to be a long night.

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**Well I hope you liked it! Sorry again that it took me so long, but you know, I've been busy!**

**So we got to see the bratty side of Lexie in this one, eh? I promise she'll be super sweet in the next one!**

**Which will be, dunh dunh dunh dunh, THE DINNER! XD How exciting is that? It's going to be EPIC! (I hope, seeing as I haven't written it yet.)**

**Please REVIEW! You all rock for reading, and even more if you DO leave a review.**

**~Kayla**


	5. Author's Note

**So, I'm working on the fifth chapter right now, but I still want 15 more reviews before I post it. PLEASE!**

**Thank you very much for all the ones I already got though! You guys rock!**

**~Kayla**


	6. Author's Note 2

Hey guys.

I'd like to thank all of you guys for reading what I've written so far. I'm sorry I haven't been posting for a looooong time, but I just haven't been into it. I would love to finish both of my stories, but the truth is that writting takes time, which I don't tend to have a lot of. I may come and finish it at a later time, but right now that's just not going to happen.

I would like to thank all the people who followed my stories, and furthermore those who reviewed. You guys have all given me the inspiration to hopefully do more with writting one day. As a matter of fact, I have been writting occasionally, just not fanfics. If I ever get anywhere with it though, then all my reviewers have played a huge part. I couldn't have written all I did of my fanfics without you guys.

So I guess this is farewell for now. Maybe I'll post again someday, maybe not. Either way, thank you very much. I just thought I should let you all know how much I appreciate everything!

~Kayla


	7. A CONTEST!

Hey everyone!

Sorry if I got you excited, but this is not an update. There may be one coming soon, however if there is, it won't be written by me.

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**I am holding a contest for the continuation of both my stories: Shadow's Kiss Never Ends/ When He Returns **

**

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_**Rules**_:

* Anybody who had read one or both if my VA fanfics and has a fanfiction account can enter.

* If you're going to enter for both, please make both your entries separate.

* Please send all your entries to my email, not my fanfiction account: angelsandskating08 gmail. c o m (without the spaces-it wouldn't let me type an email address)

* Put the name of the fanfic you are 'auditioning' for in the subject.

* Please include the following:

~ Your first name ( You can make it up if you don't feel comfortable telling me )

~ The name of your fanfiction account

~ Either a word doc, PDF or copied and Pasted text of your version of the next chapter

~ How you think you might proceed with the story ( It's just an idea, it doesn't have to be concrete)

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For now that's all. If I need anything else I shall message you back. Please keep in mind that I do want this to be very well done if I do end up giving this to somebody else to finish since it was originally my story. Please don't be offended if I dot end up choosing you, or even if I end up choosing nobody at all. I'm looking forward to reading all your entries though! **Final deadline is midnight of January 20th**. Have fun and good luck!

~Kayla


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